On Friday Lenovo Group Ltd said it was recalling half a million batteries used in Thinkpad and Lenovo laptop computers worldwide because they could explode.

 

With the announcement all top PC makers - Dell Inc, Hewlett Packard Inc and Lenovo – are recalling the problematic lithium-ion batteries made by Sony Corp which have been found to overheat and in some cases they've exploded.   

 

Lenovo, China's No. 1 and the world's No. 3 personal computer manufacturer is recalling 526,000 batteries for its Thinkpads and 2,460 for Lenovo-branded laptops through cooperation with the US Consumer Product Safety Commission and other regulatory agencies.

 

The batteries involved in the recall were installed in the Thinkpad T, R and X models, the X60s and the Lenovo Tianyi F40 and F40A machines.  

 

The batteries were on the market from last February to this month and approximately 5-10 percent of the total sold during that time are being recalled, Lenovo said in a statement. "Sony provides the financial support for the recall," they said but declined to elaborate.

 

Lenevo announced the recall program after a Thinkpad T43 exploded during use in a Los Angeles airport two weeks ago.

 

Before that HP, the world's No. 2 PC maker, recalled 135,000 Sony batteries. Dell, the world's No. 1 PC manufacturer, recalled 4.1 million Sony batteries. This was the biggest recall in the history of the electronics industry. Other PC vendors, including Apple, Toshiba and Panasonic have also recalled the product.  

 

Lenovo, which acquired IBM's PC unit last year, held 30 percent of the domestic laptop computer market in the second quarter with sales totaling 900,000 units, according to CCID Consulting, a Beijing-based IT firm under the Ministry of Information Industry.

 

Chinese buyers can automatically determine if their battery is included in the recall by visiting Lenovo's multi-language website (www. lenovo.com/batteryprogram). Consumers can type the unique battery number on the back of the product into the website to determine whether it is affected by the recall. There’s also a telephone hotline (8008103315-3).  

 

Lenovo said it would visit consumers at their homes or offices to exchange the problem batteries within four weeks after receiving a request.

 

(Shanghai Daily September 30, 2006)